High Quality Hip Hop Albums

Album

Lesane Parish Crooks, better known as 2Pac, started out as a background dancer for the alternative Hip Hop group “Digital Underground”. His second release “Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z.” was his breakout album and reached platinum status. It has a weird raw sound to it – in a good sense. A few singles stand out such as “I Get Around” or “Keep Ya Head Up” making it not only a must have for 2Pac fans but a great rap album of 1993.

Organized Konfusion is an alternative Hip Hop duo from New York. Starting their careers as “Simply II Positive MCs, they were convinced by Russell Simmons from Def Jam that the name was whack and changed it to “Organized Konfusion”. They released their self-titled album in 1991 – a debut with great use of samples and an overall very positive vibe to it. Recommended greatly, one of the most underappreciated Hip Hop records of the 90’s.

S.F.C. stands for Soldiers for Christ – yeah, you guessed right, this is a Christian rap group. They were pioneers for Holy Hip Hop bringing authentic street rap with topics such as drugs, gang violence or immoral living. A nice album from start to finish – both in regards to scratching & sampling as well as rapping. Interludes aside you look at 40 Minutes of Illumination.

Right here we got a classic – Snoop Doggs debut sold almost 1 million copies just within the first week of its release making it the fastest selling Hip Hop record back then! Nobody else but Dr. Dre was responsible for production and following “The Chronic”, the so called G-Funk was in its prime in 1993. Snoops voice was unique and irresistible, his flow outstanding – a new rap star was born.

The Nonce is a Hip Hop duo from Los Angeles. “World Ultimate” is their debut album and it’s a shame they never got much credit for this great release. The whole record is of high quality and consistent from start to finish. The jazzy production and their smooth flow reminds one of groups such as A Tribe Called Quest. Get this and you’re always good to go.

Dred Scott is an American Hip Hopper who was early on influenced by Jazz music but chose to be a rapper thanks to Run D.M.C. Nonetheless Jazz Music is an essiantial element in his music, combined with the Boom Bap Beats and his dope delivery it was something new compared to the rather smooth sounding Jazz Rap released up to 1994. An underrated and underappreciated record, don’t skip on this one!

DJ Quik was signed by Profile Recods after they heard his mixtape “The Red Tape”. Even this album was supposed to be sold in the hood! It was recorded in only 17 days and sold over 1 million copies in the US. The production was mainly handled by DJ Quik himself and his smooth rapping accompanied by the funky beats is just a timeless classic.

The Artifacts are a Hip Hop Duo from Newark, New Jersey. Between A Rock And A Hard Place was released in 1994 and is regarded as a classic today. The album is consistent from start to finish and features Boom Bap that wants you to bob your head all day! Check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Digital Underground’s second release contains two remixes of their debut album, three new songs and a skit. “Tie the Knot” and “Same Song” were featured in the film “Nothing But Trouble”. If you like Digital Underground this E.P. is a no brainer. To everyone else: If you like funk and you’re okay with not getting pure Hip Hop you’ll enjoy it. Oh, I almost forgot: 2Pac makes his first appearence to the Hip Hop world on the track “Same Song”.

Paris is a Californian rapper who is known for his highly charged political and socially conscious lyrics. His second album “Sleeping With The Enemy” stimulated much controversy with songs such as “Bush Killa”. That’s why he had had a lot of difficulties to find a label to distribute the album. After being rejected by a few companies, the record had been already manufactured by Warner Bros. but they destroyed the copies at the last minute and payed him off. So he started his own label and released the record there.